Now that oil has fallen to half of what it was in the summer, we should the gas tax should be raised now, while gas is still cheap. The federal gas tax was last raised in 1993, and California’s state gas tax was last raised in 1994. In California, we would need to raise gas taxes by 18 cents per gallon just to keep up with inflation. It should probably be hiked a lot more. And with a higher tax, the price at the pump would not swing around so much; gas prices in Europe showed much less volatility than here.
I’m not the only one advocating this:
- Roadshow: As prices fall, is it time to think about hiking the gas tax?, San Jose Mercury News, November 18, 2008
- To keep gas prices down, raise the gas tax, Fortune, November 18, 2008